The Society gives grants for activities that relate to the study and display of silver and gold, such as:

• to help fund publications
• towards research costs
• to subsidise study visits connected with research
• the cost of museum displays

The Society has a number of funds and legacies from which to support grants. In particular, we have the Tim Kent Memorial Fund which is the result of a generous legacy from the late collector and author Tim Kent.

Additionally The Silver Society received a generous legacy in the will of noted silver researcher, Robert Barker. This legacy is used to encourage original research in the field of ‘eighteenth-century silversmiths from Great Britain, its colonies and possessions and their works’.

These should be submitted in writing with as much supporting information as you feel appropriate to justify the merit of your claim. To assist in the process we have included two templates on our website; one for publications at this link and another to cover anything else at this link. Any questions or additional information to be provided outside of these form should be completed and submitted to Luke Delmas via email at events@thesilversociety.org

Our charitable objects cover a wide range including research and its publication, acquisition of historic pieces for the nation, exhibitions, display cases and related material and personal development in the study of silver. We provide grants to individuals and institutions, including museums. If you have doubts as to eligibility please contact Luke Delmas as above.

An important part of your submission will be to justify the importance of the project, the public benefit and/or the degree to which the knowledge of the genre is enhanced. Alternatively it may be to justify how such a grant will help your own development in your career as someone who is closely involved in the manufacture, study or curator of silver.

Grants have been made for as little as a few hundred pounds, to tens of thousands of pounds, but typically they have fallen in the two to three thousand pound band. The Society has significant discretion over its grants, and the size of any grant will depend on the overall funding needs and the merit of each application. The Timothy Kent Memorial Fund has given, and will give, us the opportunity to make more significant “capital” grants as the Society sees as appropriate.

We will acknowledge receipt of your submission and all applications will be assessed together by the Grants Committee, which will meet six monthly in early March and September. Applications must be received no later than the first of that month to be considered. The Grants Committee will have discretion to make awards up to £5,000. Larger sums will be referred to the full Committee for approval. The timing of our response will therefore vary according to the size of the application. We know that occasionally applications can be urgent in which case please flag that in your submission.

The offer of some grants may be subject to conditions, such as publicity for the Society, speaking to its membership and/or submitting an article for the annual Silver Studies Journal. Some grants may be paid by instalments in line with an agreed programme/progress. Note that a successful grant may disqualify the recipient from a further grant for three years.

Recent grants awarded are listed on our website at this link.